What I Go To School For
by Galaxy-Defending-Hopeful
Summary: When a cute blonde sixth former comes across a Year 11 being bullied, he takes him to hospital. One thing leads to another, and soon they're together. A story describing their journey to getting together, coming out and recovering from bullying. Floynter, school AU, mild swearing.


**Cute little Floynter oneshot.**

* * *

Dougie felt tears roll down his cheeks as he tried to deflect the blows from the older boys, his hands covering his face. As a particularly rough kick landed right in his side, he groaned. Pain was shooting through him at every spot where something touched him. A weird popping sensation kept on crackling under his left rib every time he moved, and he could see a dribble of blood beginning to stain his white school shirt. God knows where it was from.

"Shit, there's a teacher!" One of the boys said, and after one final kick they began to run. Dougie cautiously lowered his arms and glanced around for the teacher, but saw only a cute sixth former that he had admired for a couple of years.

"Hey, are you okay?" the blonde guy asked, coming over with a look of concern on his face. Dougie was just fifteen, and this guy had to be eighteen or so.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." Dougie mumbled, raising one hand cautiously to his face and wincing as he felt the blood at his nose. That was where it came from.

"No, mate, you're not. What's your name?"

"Dougie."  
"I'm Tom."

Tom firmly grabbed Dougie's blood-smeared hand and helped him up. Dougie couldn't help but cry out as the rib-popping turned into excruciating rib snapping.

"Ow, fuck..."

"Hey, I think you might need the hospital. Dude?"

Dougie fainted.

* * *

When he woke up, he was lying down in a small hospital room wearing some strange robe. On one side, his mum and sister were sat. His father had left the week before. On the other side Tom was sat, nibbling his lip.

"Dougie!" His mum jumped up and started kissing him and gently hugging him as soon as she saw his eyes flicker open. His sister followed suit, and when they were done, the blonde guy stood up.

"I should go...I was just going to wait until you woke up..." Tom mumbled, pulling his black blazer back over his shoulder. Dougie's mum, however, pushed him right back down into his seat.

"Nonsense – we need to thank you for getting poor Doug here! I didn't even know he was being bullied, bless him..." she gave Dougie a pointed glance before ruffling his hair again.

"It's fine...anyone would do the same..." Tom shifted awkwardly in his seat, going to stand up again.

"Mum, it's fine. I guess we can meet up at school if we need to, can't we, Tom?" suggested Dougie, smiling at Tom.

"Oh course...we need to take you out to dinner one day, though, Tom. You saved Dougie's life!"

"Mum..."

"Oh, um, thank you. I'll see you around, Dougie."

With that, Tom fled from the room.

* * *

Dougie was back at school the next week with a note excusing him from PE because of his broken rib and several stitches on his lip, along with a selection of medications to take at lunch. The boys who had done it had been suspended, but Dougie's conditions at school had not particularly improved. Now he was seen as a wimp by everyone, and despite the warnings in assembly that they should 'Be especially careful with _everyone, _and don't touch people unless they want you to.', Dougie was getting deliberately knocked and bumped in every corridor and classroom. That was until lunch, and something fantastic happened.

* * *

"Oi, Poynter!"

Dougie glanced up to see a crowd of girls walking towards him. He closed his eyes with despair for a brief moment as he realised the one at the front of the crowd was the girlfriend of one of the guys who was suspended. He didn't respond.

"Poynter, I'm talking to you!"

Dougie glared furiously at the floor, willing himself not to respond no matter what happened. He suddenly felt a hand slap him across the face. His stitched cut at the edge of his mouth stung ferociously.

"Oi!" this was not the girl's chavvy, accent-tainted shout from before. It was a vaguely familiar male voice. The girls turned around, and Dougie glanced up – there stood Tom. The girls giggled but loped off, leaving Dougie.

"Dude, are you okay? I thought this stuff would stop..."

"I'm fine..." Dougie trailed off when he saw the colour of Tom's eyes. Brown, but warmer than the clichéd chocolate colour. Closer to nutmeg mixed with cocoa powder: warm, varied and soft. Tom stared back into the blue of Dougie's own eyes, not cold and intrusive like some blues but cool and relaxing, and so deep you could lose yourself in them. Then suddenly, their lips were together, smooth and searching and exploratory. Both had kissed girls before, but never boys. It felt better. Dougie felt electricity fizzing through his veins, and Tom felt peaceful and happy. This was perfect compared to the slimy boredom of kissing girls. Dougie broke away, and saw blood at the corner of Tom's mouth.

"My stitches...I've bled on you..." he started to laugh, and once Tom had wiped the blood away, he did too. They didn't stop laughing until well after the bell indicating the end of lunch had rung.

* * *

The bullying didn't go away immediately: that was too much to hope for. However, seeing Dougie sat hand-in-hand with a tall, well built sixth former was intimidating enough to the other fifteen and sixteen year olds that they left him alone some of the time. It was telling their parents that worried them. They decided to just go for it one day, many weeks after Dougie's mouth and rib had healed.

"Mum, Jazzie? I need to talk to you!" Dougie called straight from the doorway. He was hand-in-hand with Tom, and he pulled him closer when he saw his sister thunder down the stairs. His mum came shortly afterwards.

"This is my boyfriend." Dougie quickly said, and as if to confirm it, he kissed Tom for almost ten seconds.

"Cool." Jazzie said, before running back upstairs.

"Tom – you're the one who saved Dougie! Would you like a cup of tea, Tom?"

"Mum, I'm _gay._" Dougie said, staring at her with confusion. Had she somehow misinterpreted his message?

"Yes, I know. Do you want a cup of tea as well?"

Dougie shook his head. "We've got to go and tell Tom's family."

She smiled. "Okay. I'll see you later, honey."

* * *

Tom's family reacted much the same. His sister had gone as far as to say,

"I was wondering when you'd tell us."

"Carrie!"

She grinned. "I've got homework to do – see you later, Tom!"

Tom and Dougie left Tom's house as well and went to their special spot. On the edge of the town, there was a cricket club which backed onto a huge farm of rolling fields. If you walked down the side of a small stream for about ten minutes, you came to a small copse of trees, one of which was incredibly climbable and inviting. They climbed it together and then sat on one wide branch, sharing sweets and drinks from their bags and talking quietly, the sound of their voices getting carried away into the quiet river of sound being emitted by the copse inhabitants. There was a large deal of making out, too.

"I love you, Dougie." Tom mumbled, running his hand down Dougie's thigh.

"I love you too-"

Dougie fell out of the tree.

And broke exactly the same rib.

Tom was sick with laughter after he was certain his boyfriend was okay.


End file.
